‘It was shocking’: Mom of murdered DeKalb girl on how killer posed as teen to date daughter

DeKALB, Ill. (WTVO) — He said he was 17. He said he was a college student. He said he worked part-time and had lost both parents. But none of it was true.

Timothy Doll, now 31, posed as a teenager to date 15-year-old Gracie Sasso-Cleveland, a deception that ended in tragedy when he killed her in May 2023.

Doll was sentenced on Aug. 14 to 52 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

Gracie’s mother, Ericka Sasso, says she was stunned to learn the person she believed was her daughter’s boyfriend was actually a convicted sex offender nearly twice her age.

“I had met him,” Sasso said. “He seemed harmless, immature. He told me his parents had died. He rented a room on the campus and said he worked at Ryder. I didn’t have a reason to not believe him—or my daughter.”

Ericka met Doll in late 2024, three months into his relationship with Gracie. While things seemed normal at first, she said Doll became possessive.

Gracie ended the relationship, but she and Doll resumed contact some time in early 2023. On May 4, Gracie went to Doll’s apartment, where according to witnesses, they argued. It was during that argument that Doll he smothered her with a pillow and disposed of her body in a dumpster near his building.

“Nobody would have expected this to happen,” Ericka said.

During the three-day search for Gracie, police revealed Doll’s true identity: a 29-year-old sex offender who had recently been sentenced to probation for sexually abusing a minor. The revelation left Ericka reeling.

“Yeah. It was a shock,” she said.

Ericka doesn’t know if Gracie ever discovered the truth about Doll, but she now urges other young people to speak up if something feels wrong.

“Don’t be afraid to tell somebody,” she said. “And if it’s your friend and they tell you things that don’t sound right to you, tell an adult.”

At his sentencing, Doll apologized for the murder, calling his relationship with Gracie “highly inappropriate” but claiming he cared for her deeply.

Ericka wasn’t convinced.

“People talk about forgiveness,” she said. “But he’s not going to get any from me.”

With Doll behind bars, Ericka says her family can begin to heal.

“There is no amount of time that can bring back my daughter’s life,” she said.

Doll was given credit for the approximately 2 1/2 years he served in the DeKalb County Jail while awaiting trial.